Our Story

 

Sandra Shmith and Dominique Burgoine first met in Melbourne, their individual backgrounds in the fashion world led them to strike up an instant friendship.  “Dominique was very experienced in the industry and has a wonderful personal style that I admire” says Sandra a former Vogue Australia fashion editor with a superb eye for design. Sandra moved to Shanghai in 2005 and launched a lifestyle store ‘Platane’ in the former French Concession. On her return, she set up the Mrs Shmith label, designing and importing small, considered collections from Shanghai.

Dominique has also had a long background in retail and buying, ranging from volume to luxury fashion. This cemented her passion for research, sourcing and development.

In 2004 she launched a range of classic cashmere pieces under the label ‘Eugenie Cashmere’. The business grew organically over ten years, from a small destination shop to two stores and an international online presence.

Fast-forward to 2019, “as our friendship developed, we would meet and discuss fashion related ideas,” says Sandra. “We both had experience manufacturing and sourcing internationally. During one of our conversations, I admired Dominique’s silk shirt and she revealed that she had sourced the fabric and then had it tailored in Hong Kong. About an hour after we left that meeting I contacted her and suggested that we collaborate on a silk shirt collection.” And so the demi ds label was born.

The collection falls into the category of demi-couture. Combining quality fabrics with a tailors attention to detail in limited editions. demi ds also makes reference to their initials. 

The premise behind the label is fabric first. The idea was initially to produce a small, refined collection of silk shirts in beautiful colours, plus a few special pieces that formed the Luxe collection. Sandra and Dominique set out to discover exquisite fabrics from all over the globe and then decide how they would be best applied. They employed the expertise of the best pattern makers and graders in Melbourne to perfect the fit, sourced the accessories from family owned businesses and as a result they have produced beautifully crafted shirts in silks and cotton, luxe bomber jackets and skirts in gorgeous brocades. The pieces are limited and the designs timeless.

The next stage was to develop an Everyday cotton collection that translates into relaxed yet stylish shirting and other pieces. 

There is something for everybody no matter the style or occasion . 

“We don’t work to seasons. We are not driven by trends. Our aim is to produce desirable, hand tailored pieces that can be integrated into any wardrobe. We combine simple aesthetics with functionality to create something new, but with a basis in traditional methods of craftsmanship”.